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Wat Pa Pao Music Workshop

The Wat Pa Pao workshop was extra special because we got to do our lesson inside the Wat Pa Pao Temple! I was such an amazing way to spend an afternoon, making beautiful artwork inside a building covered in beauty.

We created shakers that derived from our research into cultural musical instruments, to which we came across the traditional African Shekere.

They started to decorate the paper that became the 'skin' around the plastic bottles. We gave the students blank paper, their own blank canvas, to decorate with whatever design they desired. They were given crayons and pencils. Then, we handed out glitter and colored sand to jazz it up if they again desired.

The last element was the most essential- the beads, rice and beans, to create the sound within the shaker. The kids used up each different type of noisemaker as we encouraged them to add more to make a richer sound. After this, came the final step of adding ribbon to the neck of the bottle to which bells were tied onto.

Once we were done we asked the kids to sit in a circle so we could make some of our own music right then and there! Each person had their own short beat that was continued while others added their own beat. We listened to how the sound and music grew around the circle until there was a collection of sounds. This was simply to have fun and let lose and to experiment with their shakers as to what sounds they could produce.

It was a lovely afternoon with these young boys. I will never forget the gorgeous temples of Thailand and the day I got to do what I love best inside these sacred walls.